smallest country in the world (catholic church, place, church)

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by UK2theUS

Google is your friend

The Smallest Country - The World's Smallest Countries

Without looking, my top three were Monaco, Lichtenstein and Andorra, not knowing which of those three was the smallest. According to the About link posted by UK2theUS those choices are 2, 6 and 16. Remove country status from the Vatican City and my answers jump to 1, 5 and 15. I never understood the exact status of the Vatican. Country, yes, no?

[pigeonhole]

I never understood the exact status of the Vatican. Country, yes, no?

That's a challenging question; there are strong links between the Italian and the Holy See since the Latran Treaty in 1929 between Mussolini and Pius XI.
Let's not forget there is no native Vatican population (bishops and cardinals do not have children!) and that the Vatican state is not memeber of the UNO.
So no, I wouldn't consider it as a really independent state but a special entity with peculiar status like, for other reasons, the Palestinian Territories, Taiwan, and Kosovo....

[sailordave]

Malta and Luxembourg are two of my favorite small countries. Though greatly out numbered and out gunned they still fought with everything they have against the Germans in WW2. They didn't surrender and welcome the Germans with open arms the way one certain European nation did.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by sailordave

Malta and Luxembourg are two of my favorite small countries. Though greatly out numbered and out gunned they still fought with everything they have against the Germans in WW2. They didn't surrender and welcome the Germans with open arms the way one certain European nation did.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Luxembourg taken in only one day? As far as I know they only had a kind of a voluntary army which did not fight at all.

And Malta, well the strategic location of this small island certainly caused a lot of fighting... the allies used Malta as a base.

[sailordave]

Luxembourg in World War Two: The Tiny Duchy that Roared Against Germany
I stand corrected on Luxembourg. However, according to the above article their military was under orders from the government to stand down but after the royal family evacuated they ordered their people to join the French foreign legion and over 100 were a part of the landing at Normandy.
I had the opportunity to visit Malta and hear their story from them. Look at a map and you'll see that Malta is located between Italy and north Africa. The Germans wanted Malta because of it's location but they fought back against the ships. Lucky for them, the Germans at that time couldn't afford to put all their efforts towards capturing this island when they faced greater threats on land and sea elsewhere.

[Go Ne]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

I can agree with the tiny enclaves like Liechtenstein, Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino, but disagree with any island nation well isolated from larger landmasses.

Vatican City is a special circumstance, like Washington DC

[Crezy rabbit]

It's useful……

[Hengist]

I read somewhere on this site that native American reservations are sovereign nations?

The Isle of Man is an interesting place with its own language (Manx), but probably not truly independent.

[tigeraye]

Sovereign Military Order Of Malta.
approx 80 citizens

[original]

In the peaceful status these (Microstates) can be fine, but in other situations would be eaten by thier neighbors, one of the stronger and bigger countries.

I'm being wondered every time I hear or read about new weird country, like (new caladonia) not far from Australia, and some small islands there. it was interesting to get more information around these lands, but I usually find out that, they are in outside the world anyway, and always belong one of the strong nations or countries such as France, England, Germany or China.

there is a beautiful small country in Asia called (Brunei), it's dominated by a Sultan has a special reputation in the world, more than his independent country.